After giving that explanation, Lu Jiaoyue was still a little nervous, afraid Gu Sipei would remain unconvinced and keep questioning her.
Fortunately, he did not.
He merely nodded again, as though none of those additional conditions mattered.
Lu Jiaoyue breathed a sigh of relief, and her body relaxed completely.
At this point, the conversation seemed to have accomplished everything she had come for.
A strange quiet settled over the study. The earlier tension had long since faded with Gu Sipei's promise to apologize.
All that remained in the air was an indescribable sense of... balance, in the process of readjusting itself.
Lu Jiaoyue still held the fine, dark gray handkerchief Gu Sipei had handed her.
After wiping away her tears, she had not returned it immediately. Instead, she had unconsciously clutched it in her hand, as though it were something tangible that could offer her a little reassurance.
After some hesitation, Lu Jiaoyue still felt that something was missing from this conclusion.
With that thought, she raised her head and looked at Gu Sipei, who had returned to his seat behind the desk and resumed his usual composure.
The faint red finger marks on his face had faded until they were almost invisible, which eased some of her lingering unease about having hit him.
After collecting herself for a few seconds, Lu Jiaoyue took a deep breath, as though she had made up her mind.
Her expression grew unusually serious. With her childish hurt and anger gone, something more fundamental, something belonging to her own inner sense of order, finally emerged.
"Gu Sipei," she began, her voice still slightly hoarse from crying, but her tone more calm and earnest than ever. "Actually... the reason I came to see you today was..."
She paused, apparently arranging her thoughts, before saying clearly,